Wish It Away
by leilaniforever
Summary: Jay went through a lot on Misfortune's Keep. There were times when he neared his breaking point, but he knows one thing. Ninja never quit.


**HELLO!**

**Hey y'all, Leilani here! This is my (drumroll please) VERY FIRST PUBLISHED FANFIC! **

**As you can tell I am SUPER STOKED TO BE HERE! I absolutely ADORE writing Ninjago fics, and I've taken the jump and decided to finally start publishing! I'm really trying to grow as an author and feel like I can do that through this website. **

**Soooo this fic is pretty angsty and sad. I'm starting off with a bang ;)**

_**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! **_

**Constructive criticism is SO appreciated.**

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_Just wish it all away. I know you want to, little canary. Only a few words, easy to say, and everything will be better. _

_Never! Your words won't turn me, Nadakhan. _

Jay was such a fool. He should have known not to respond, to keep his head down. A few rounds of Scrap N' Tap had gotten the message through. Who knew robotic monkeys could be so brutal?

Now he was paying for it, lying on the hard damp ground of Misfortunes Keep's dungeon. The only roof over his head was a metal grate, which Jay might have been able to break through if he wasn't so tired. Rain was dripping from the thick grey clouds above, trickling through the grate.

Jay's auburn hair was soaked, sticking to his face. He watched droplets of water fall from a strand of hair that hung in front of his right eye. Feeling the rain, even though it was freezing cold, comforted him somehow, distracting him from the pain of the beatings he'd received.

It also reminded him of Nya. She was the reason he was holding on, resisting Nadakhan. After hearing of the Djin's plans to marry her and gain infinite wishes, Jay was even more determined not to give in.

Jay watched the rain until he drifted off to sleep.

"_Jay? Jay, where are you?" He looked around in the darkness, desperately hoping to find the source of that voice, to find her. The only thing he could see was thick grey smoke, which swirled around him eerily. _

"_Jay?" Her voice was growing softer. He tried to call out, to let her know he was there, but his voice wouldn't work. A feeling of despair rose up, like a wave, and he hung his head, feeling the rain begin again. This time it brought no comfort- pounding him mercilessly and reminding him that he had failed. _

"Wake up, bluebell." The harsh voice broke through the grey maze of Jay's dream. He blinked awake, squinting in the bright sunlight. Flintlocke stood above him, an expression of disgust on his mustached face.

"Get up. The deck ain't gonna swab itself." The pirate barked, unlocking the grate and shoving it away. Jay struggled to his feet, feeling momentarily dizzy before he found his bearings. His whole body ached from the previous night's fights.

He forced himself to climb out of the dungeon, muscles screaming in protest, and took the mop Flintlocke held out without a word.

For the rest of the day, Jay did whatever mundane tasks the pirates could think of. Luckily Nadakhan was away supervising the lifting of the Temple of Airjitzu, so he didn't have the Djin's constant voice in his ear.

Jay thought he was going to get off easy, maybe even skip Scrap N' Tap. He had swabbed, scrubbed, polished, and cleaned all day without saying a word. Maybe the pirates had grown tired of using him as entertainment.

He had no such luck. As soon as the end-of-dinner bell rang (Jay was fed scraps the pirates didn't want) Flintlocke came up to him with a grin on his dirty face. "Ready for some more rounds?"

Jay was so tempted to give up. To wish it all away. But then he thought of Nya, of his friends, of Ninjago. So he nodded silently, following Flintlocke and the other pirates to the deck.

They formed a ring around him, jeering and laughing. Jay knew there was really nothing he could do, at least not with the heavy vengestone ball and chain around his ankle. He just had to accept it.

The first one in the ring was a lady with spiky purple hair. Jay could tell she was new and desperate to prove herself, because she fought clumsily but viciously, and kept glancing at Flintlocke for approval.

She got in a few solid hits, but nothing like the previous night. Next up was Doubloon. The fight passed in a whirl of pain and laughter, and before Jay knew it he was on the ground. He pushed himself back up, tasting blood, to face the next opponent.

The next few fights were all a blur, and all ended in Jay on the ground, a new throbbing ache every time. Then came Dogshank. She was the one Jay truly dreaded, because with her combined strength and intelligence, she caused the most pain.

This time was the worst yet. After a few embarrassing hits Jay received, she wound up and the next thing Jay knew, he was crumpled on the ground, an explosion of pain in his left eye.

He heard Flintlocke yelling something at Dogshank, but all he could think about was the pain in his eye, which he could already feel swelling. Jay felt everything slipping away, even his agony, and then it was just darkness.

The first thing he felt when he woke up was a deep throbbing in his eye. Jay's whole body ached, but his eye was all he could focus on. He dragged himself into a sitting position, spitting blood onto the floor.

There was blood on his face, his gi, the ground. The metallic tang filled his mouth and nose, and Jay wished the rain would come back and wash it away. Jay realized he was back in his holding place below the deck. He had never felt so beaten, so defeated in his life.

Not even the thought of Nya comforted him. Jay looked over with his good eye, and saw a basin full of water. Clancee had probably brought it for him. Jay didn't think the green serpentine really belonged with the pirates.

He managed to shuffle over, bending over to get a look at himself. The moonlight filtered in through the grate, revealing his reflection, and Jay winced. He looked _awful. _There were all sorts of cuts and bruises on his face, and his eye was swollen and bloody.

_Please don't let it be blind. _He pleaded to- well, he didn't really know who. Jay took another look at himself. Was that really him? The Jay he saw in the water was broken, hopeless, defeated.

Jay's face was wet. He wondered briefly if it had started raining again, but then he realized he was crying. Jay squeezed his good eye shut and sobbed silently, curling into a ball next to the water.

He felt his powers react to his emotions. Lightning pulsed over his body, contained by the vengestone but flickering within. Then Jay felt an odd sensation in his injured eye- odd, but not painful.

He hesitantly peeked into the water, and gasped in shock. Jay's left eye, the one Dogshank had damaged, was glowing. Bright electric blue light emanated from his eye, a stark contrast to his soft brown one on the right side.

The agonizing throbbing was beginning to fade, the glow receding, until Jay was gazing down at himself once more. But instead of the swollen mass on his left side, an electric blue eye blinked back at him.

Jay reached up and touched it gingerly. His reflection did the same. Had his powers just healed his eye? Sure, it was blue instead of brown, but it was there and it could see. Jay felt a small smile creep across his face.

This ninja wasn't going down so easily.

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**...so how was it? Publishing this was more than a little scary, being my first published fanfic and all, but I want to start sharing my work and getting feedback on what I can do better. (:**

**I'm so sorry for torturing my lil blue baby, but I live for angst. **

**Again, please review! Reviews are GOLD!**

**3**

**Bye y'all! **


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